We have always wanted to do a Blue Cruise off the Turkish Coast together, since Phil still won’t stop talking about the one he did almost 10 years ago. The cruise operator suggested that we start our trip in the town of Olympos, which is filled with Lycian ruins and modern hostels, although it can be difficult to tell which is which.
The ruins were beautiful, although there seem to be a disproportionate amount of tombs that were built to last. Either that or the vampires who clearly live here are more into home maintenance than the movies would have you believe.
A particularly delicious specialty of Olympos is taking an entire melon and filling it with ice cream.
This guy was particularly interested in sampling the marionberry flavored ice cream.
A few miles into the mountains, there is a series of ancient gas vents that have been burning since antiquity. These vents, called the Chimera, inspired the locals to worship the god Hephaestus, and they inspired us to vow to bring marshmallows next time.
Our home for the next three nights was the Kucuk Mustafa:
Despite having our own cabin, we spent every night out on the deck, and woke up every morning with a head start on our sunburn.
Our boat was pretty cozy, with a crew of three and eight guests including us:
We spent the majority of our days swimming,
checking out beautiful scenery,
hiking ruins,
eating ship-cooked meals,
enjoying the theatre,
Paragliding,
being visited by food boats,
and seeking out cats in the town of Kas.
You might think this sounds like a pretty easy life, but let’s see you spot all the cats in this photo!
-Phil & Jessie
Katz 